How to play Fader
Fader is a free tactical shooter that runs in your browser. Two teams fight over a bomb: the Terrorists try to plant it on one of two bomb sites, and the Counter-Terrorists try to stop them or defuse it. You play against bots on your own, or invite friends into a lobby with a link. There is nothing to download and nothing to buy.
Controls
| Key | What it does |
|---|---|
| W A S D | Move |
| Space | Jump |
| Shift | Walk silently (enemies can't hear your footsteps) |
| C or Ctrl | Crouch (steadier aim, smaller target) |
| ← → ↑ ↓ | Look around (works alongside the mouse) |
| Left mouse | Fire |
| Right mouse | Scope with snipers, heavy stab with the knife |
| R | Reload |
| B | Buy menu (only in your spawn during buy time) |
| 1–5 | Weapon slots: rifle, pistol, knife, grenades, bomb |
| Q | Switch to your last weapon |
| E | Defuse the bomb, pick up a weapon, take control of a teammate bot after you die |
| G | Drop your weapon (to give it to a teammate) |
| F | Inspect your weapon |
| Tab | Scoreboard |
| M | Sound on or off |
| Esc | Pause and return to the menu |
Browsers close a tab with Ctrl+W. If you crouch with Ctrl while walking forward, the browser asks before leaving, so many players use C to crouch instead. Mouse sensitivity, crosshair and graphics quality are in the Settings tab.
How a round works
Every round starts with a short freeze time in which you can buy. The Terrorists carry the bomb (C4) to bomb site A or B and plant it by selecting the bomb with 5 and holding fire for three seconds while standing on the site. Once planted, the Counter-Terrorists have 40 seconds to find it and hold E for ten seconds to defuse it, or five seconds with a defuse kit. A team also wins a round by eliminating the other team, and the Counter-Terrorists win if the round timer runs out before a plant.
After half the rounds the teams switch sides. In Competitive the first team to 13 rounds wins the match.
Money and buying
You earn in-match money for winning rounds, for kills and for planting or defusing. Losing rounds in a row pays a growing loss bonus, so a team that loses can still afford guns a few rounds later. This money only exists inside the match and resets every game; it has nothing to do with real money.
- Full buy: a rifle, armor with a helmet and grenades, when the team has enough money.
- Eco: save money for one round by buying little or nothing, so everyone can full-buy next round.
- Force buy: spend everything on cheaper guns when a round is too important to save.
Aiming and movement
Guns are most accurate when you stand still. Running, jumping and long bursts all spread your shots. Each automatic gun has its own spray pattern that pulls up and sideways, so pull your mouse down against it, or fire short bursts. Headshots do much more damage, and the AK-47 and M4A4 kill with one headshot through a helmet. Armor absorbs part of the damage from body shots.
Counter-strafing (tapping the opposite movement key just before you shoot) stops you instantly and makes your first bullet accurate. Crouching helps at long range.
Grenades
- Flashbang: blinds anyone looking at it, bots included. Turn away when your team throws one.
- Smoke: blocks sight for about 21 seconds. Great for crossing open ground or cutting off a sniper.
- HE grenade: explosive damage in a radius, strongest at the centre.
Game modes
Competitive
Five against five on a bomb defusal map, first to 13 rounds, with the full economy. Pick Sandline, Reactor or Monsoon.
Wingman
Two against two on a smaller map with one bomb site, first to 9 rounds with shorter rounds. Played on Summit or Harbor.
Gun Game
Instant respawns and no buying. Every two kills move you to the next gun, fifteen guns in all, and one knife kill at the end wins. A knife kill also drops the victim a level. Played on Carnival or Poolside.
Chaos FFA
Quick free-for-all rounds back to back: everyone spawns at a random spot on the map and everyone is your enemy. The last one standing wins the round, and if time runs out the player with the most health left takes it. Every round moves to another small map and adds one of ten twists: shotguns only, knives only, thick fog, low gravity with scouts, turbo speed, one-hit kills, Deagles only, vampires (everyone starts with 300 HP and hits heal you), lights out, or a lucky dip of random guns. Nobody buys anything; everyone gets the same gear. The first player to five round wins takes the match; after fifteen rounds the most wins takes it.
Two maps are made just for this mode and have buttons you press with E. In the Vault, levers open the vault doors in the middle and a switch cuts the lights for a few seconds. In the Temple, a lever fires the flame trap on the grates in the sanctum, and wheels swap which stone gates are open.
Bhop
Bunny-hop parkour courses. Jump the moment you land and turn smoothly while holding A or D to gain speed. Four courses, five minutes each, from easy to Sky Ruins.
Missions
A random challenge such as a retake, a last stand, a lone wolf plant or a pistols-only fight. Harder missions give more keys.
Maps
Every Fader map is built for close-quarters fights and smart positioning rather than long sniper duels.
- Sandline (Competitive): the original desert town with two bomb sites, a middle lane and tight alleys.
- Reactor (Competitive): a power plant on two floors, with bomb site A directly above B, a crawl vent between them, ladders and a ramp.
- Monsoon (Competitive): a rainy neon night market. A tram crosses the middle of the map every 30 seconds; it blocks bullets and sight, and it is deadly to stand in front of.
- Summit (Wingman): a mountain observatory. A blizzard rolls in every round and cuts visibility outdoors, the frozen lake is slippery, and the terrace ends in a cliff.
- Harbor (Wingman): a fishing port with a breakable office window, trampolines on the docks and a sea you can fall into.
- Carnival (Gun Game): an abandoned fairground with a turning carousel whose horses move your cover around.
- Poolside (Gun Game): two pool houses around a courtyard pool and hedges.
Playing with friends
Press Play with friends in the Play tab to open a lobby, then copy the invite link and send it to your friends. Everyone picks a team, the host chooses the mode, map and bot difficulty, and bots fill any empty slots. A lobby also has a text chat.
Keys, cases and your inventory
You earn keys by playing: rounds and wins in Competitive, Wingman, Gun Game and Chaos FFA, missions, and a daily reward that grows over a seven-day streak. A key opens a case, and the case gives you a weapon finish, a knife or gloves for your inventory. You can equip them to change how your guns look in game.
Nothing in Fader costs real money. Keys cannot be bought, and items cannot be sold, traded for money or cashed out. The Upgrader and Case Battles only use items you earned for free, and their values are shown in points, not in any currency.
Item names and artwork are optional: they appear only when you load your own game files in Settings, and they stay in your browser. Without them, Fader uses its own built-in art.
Beginner tips
- Stop before you shoot. A moving shot almost never hits.
- Keep your crosshair at head height and aimed at corners before you walk past them.
- Don't peek the same angle twice after an enemy saw you there.
- Buy armor before anything else when money is tight.
- On Terrorist side, move as a group and use smokes and flashes to take a site together.
- On Counter-Terrorist side, listen for footsteps and rotate when you hear the enemy committing to the other site.
- After you die, press E while watching a teammate bot to take control of it.